Lawmakers ‘Walk A Mile’ In Needy’s Shoes Face-To-Face Program Shows Officials Woes Of Welfare Reform, Shares Legislative Process

Larry Watson found himself eating a lot of noodles.

Wayne Meyer decided that Idaho’s welfare reform program might need some “tinkering.” And Clyde Boatright thought he spied someone working the system.

The three North Idaho lawmakers were matched with low-income constituents for the past month through the “Walk a Mile” program, which tries to give lawmakers insight into the effects of the laws they pass. It also introduces low-income people to the legislative process.

“It’s made me a lot more aware of situations that people have to deal with,” said Meyer, who was matched up with a 44-year-old Post Falls woman who is raising both her own child and two grandchildren. “She is somebody that in my opinion is on assistance because of situations that she had no control over.”

The lawmakers’ experience came as several new studies are highlighting difficulties some families are experiencing as a result of welfare reform.

Though Idaho’s welfare rolls have dropped sharply since reform started in July, the state’s soup kitchens and food banks are reporting increasing demands.

The program matched 27 legislators across the state with low-income constituents. All three North Idaho lawmakers said they learned from the experience and would do it again.

Meyer’s match, Maria Cochran, said, “I’m perfectly capable of getting a job, but I haven’t got the time.”

Instead, she’s caring for a 3-year-old and two 5-year-olds, and fighting for custody of three additional grandchildren who are in foster care.

Cochran said she raised four children by herself without welfare, and sometimes worked three jobs to make ends meet. But, she said, “I can see the effect on my children. Now I’m paying for it, and so is everyone else going to pay for it if these mothers aren’t allowed to stay home with their children.”

Idaho’s welfare reform program pushes mothers to go to work and put young children in day care.

Said Cochran, “I’m eligible for $276 cash and my food stamps to live on, which is ridiculous … nobody could live on that. But I am eligible for $900 worth of child care every month. Now how do you justify spending that much money, when you could just give me another $100 and let me stay home and take care of my kids?”

Meyer said he learned that though welfare reform requires new mothers to go to work when their babies turn 12 weeks old, many day cares don’t take infants until they’re 24 weeks old. “I think it needs to be looked at and possibly changed,” he said.

Meyer said he plans to discuss the issue with a fellow legislator who happens to be the chairwoman of the House Health and Welfare Committee - Dorothy Reynolds, R-Caldwell.

He also learned that transportation is among poor people’s biggest problems, keeping appointments or getting to work. He’d like to see some way of addressing that, too.

Watson, D-Wallace, tried to live for the month on a food stamp budget, about $100 for food. “There were a lot of lunches that were Top Ramen and that type of thing,” he said. “I tried to hold it down.”

But even then, Watson said he figured his experience probably wasn’t a fair comparison to that of a low-income person because he kept attending various dinner and lunch meetings.

Watson was matched with a woman whose family just barely misses the qualifications for public assistance. She works as a waitress, and her husband works seasonally in construction. They’re raising two children and have incurred heavy debts because of a custody battle with his ex-wife.

The family has no medical coverage from either parent’s job, Watson said. “She is worried to death that she will get sick or hurt, and then her income just goes away.”

“It’d be wonderful if we could figure out a way to give folks like that just part of the package, instead of saying they have to meet this criteria, take the whole package. They would be perfectly happy if they could just get a little medical help.”

Boatright said his match wasn’t a good one because the woman wasn’t a U.S. citizen and he got the sense she was “working the program.”

“She had terminated herself from her job,” he said.

Boatright, R-Rathdrum, said he felt that while Idaho’s welfare program is “certainly not something you can really thrive on, it’s adequate during the short period of time that the folks would need it.”

He opted not to try to live on a food stamp budget for a month.

“I don’t see how I could, really,” he said. “To start with, I’m out quite often to buffets and things of that nature in the course of my legislative responsibilities, so it would’ve been really difficult for me to do that.”

Boise State University professor Linda Anooshian, in a report called “Early Warnings,” found that low-income families are skipping meals for lack of money.

Anooshian said welfare reform should be amended to allow recipients to train for more than just entry-level jobs, if they’re to have a real chance of becoming self-reliant.

Gov. Phil Batt said this week that he wouldn’t oppose state funding for emergency food distribution, in response to the increased demand.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo